Chapter 2: Chapter 0.5 – Aftermath

AUTOMATED REPORT OF INCIDENT #575591-C

Name: Irene Durant.
Age: 30.
DOB: 25-05-2111.
Sex: Female.
Identification code: [REDACTED].
Address: [REDACTED].
Marital status: Single.
Status: Deceased.

Information:

Dutiful employee at [REDACTED] until the incident. According to corporate files she was slated for promotion since last year, but never received it for undisclosed reasons. Well liked by her co-workers, both current and former. Incident occurred as she was headed back to her apartment from place of employment.

Information cont'd:

Upper middle-class upbringing. Two siblings, younger brother and younger sister. Two parents.

Above average student. Highest level of education, university. Degrees attached. Augmented due to an accident in her early twenties, news articles and health information attached.

No children. No spouse. Survived by her parents, siblings and one grandparent on both sides. No information on any romantic ties. Small circle of friends, common among her age group.

Genetic engineering:

Average. Compared to unaltered human: Increased lifespan. Increased resistance to disease. Lessened transplant rejection response. Faster wound recovery.

Parents requested red hair color, which was granted.

Augmentations to:

Both arms, both legs, both eyes. Fully augmented. A-class consumer prosthetics.

Heart. A-class consumer prosthetic. Augmentation required due to reduced ability to exercise and risk of atrophy.

Standard throat and ear augmentation applied while other augmentations were made.

Firmware, up to date. Brain-machine interface software, up to date.

Nanomachines placed into bloodstream due to augmentation to remove muscle atrophy.

Life-long warranty on prosthetics. Warranty voided by expiration.

Incident report:

Disappeared and presumed dead after a freak accident with a teleportation device at Sector 7-B. Exact cause is unknown. Logs of the device were corrupted. Networked logs during and after the event were corrupted. As a result, no information has been gained directly from the teleportation device.

Eyewitness reports and spotty electronic surveillance tell of a massive, critical system failure which led to a localized blackout. Eyewitnesses claim to have seen a strange anomaly during blackout above the teleportation device, which ended in a blinding flash of light. Claims are impossible to confirm. Supposed anomaly left no physical residue. Possibility of “anomaly” being purely an electrical issue is high.

Likelihood of malfunction happening again is considered small. This is the first and only time a malfunction of this nature has been logged in five decades of use.

Conclusions:

The deceased’s possessions are to be repossessed by the end of the week.

Apartment will be scrubbed and rented forward.

As no remains are left, no grave spot is needed.

No signs of sabotage or misuse found on the device, leaving malfunction as the only possible cause.

Inspect all teleportation devices before continuing operation. Before this has been achieved, more trams will be fielded. Electric buses maintained for emergencies will also be used as needed. More incidents could hurt corporate interests.

Even considering the low risk, increase in maintenance cycles of teleport devices required to fully ensure that a repeat will not happen. Teleportation is still considered the safest method of travel. This was the first reported death within the year.

Observation and change

“There are five outworlders present at this time.”

I look at the short list of outworlders, humans who were brought to this place from elsewhere. It seems they are growing on a similar trajectory to those who have come before them. They go on adventures; they aid those closest to them. Sometimes, they save the realm. They live their lives. And when the time comes, they die. Did they succeed in their allotted mission or not? Rarely it matters, but it is still written down.

The impact of the outworlders cannot be understated. They have, most definitely, impacted the cultures, national borders, even naming conventions, of their host countries. They have saved and destroyed entire civilizations. But are they necessary? That is a completely different question.

Compared to their dynamic lives, however, my existence is filled with boring, endless monotony. My duty is to observe, not to take part. So, I watch. I write logs. I ensure all I see is documented. For whom and for whose benefit, I wonder? I may well be the last.

“All functions nominal.”

This calm, robotic voice is always here with me, the closest thing to a companion I have had for many years. How long has it been? I cannot even remember. No matter. Everything is going smoothly.

I push my back against the back of my seat.

Day in, day out, nothing changes. I watch as people are born, as they live, as they die. I watch as wars break out, and peace is made. I watch as people commit acts of immense cruelty, as well as altruism. I watch over all these people, and they have no knowledge of it. This is my duty, not taking part in their lives.

Sometimes, I envy them.

Things never change, as they say.

What is this?

The system had detected another anomalous hole in the fabric of time and space only minutes before. This was not unusual, so I just ignored it. It sounds worse than it is. They are smaller than can be seen with the naked eye and they destabilize within seconds, disappearing as harmlessly as they had appeared. I had seen them before. In fact, entries older than me mention them. They are harmless ripples, possibly caused by the nature of this world.

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It was so weak, so small. It could be easily erased from existence, but there is no reason to. It was not part of my duties. Leaving it alone made perfect sense.

But, while I was not looking, this anomaly had stabilized. Unlike all its predecessors, it is now stubbornly fighting against fate, for its right to exist. It had already outdone my expectations by surviving these minutes I had not looked at it. It is nothing but a curiosity, yet I find myself cheering it on. Maybe where all the others have failed, it will go against all odds?

As I continue fulfilling my tasks, I find myself staring at the anomaly every so often. Especially after my short breaks peppered throughout the day.

Ten minutes. Thirty minutes. An hour. Two hours. Three.

It is still there. How can this be? I cannot stop thinking what this could mean to the world. To me. What if…? No. I should not entertain such thoughts.

I look at the time.

Oh no! It is late! I need to retire for the night!

I turn over control of the system to the companion artificial intelligence and jump out of the seat. The room is dimly lit, the several monitors of the mainframe being the main source of illumination. The dim light turns the white, metallic walls grey.

I touch a panel on the wall, and the door beside it opens. It takes me a moment to get used to the light from the corridor beyond it. White light with white, metallic walls. I walk up to the door just opposite of the one I just walked through, touching a panel next to it.

The small mercies of life.

I enter my quarters.

I wake up feeling groggy. I must have stayed up too long. Disrupted my routine. This is… Suboptimal.

After my normal morning routine, I head back to my station.

The grogginess is all gone now. I have not felt this awake in a while.

The anomaly is still there. But not only that, it has grown. There’s no need to use special instruments to see it anymore. It is visible by the naked eye. It is visible in the surveillance drone’s cameras.

I cannot help but stare at it. If it were to become unstable at this point, it could destroy everything within a sizeable radius. Thankfully, it is not in a population center. Based on this information, there is nothing there. Only echoes of the past. But if it were to remain stable? Who knows what it could bring forth?

Anxiety and excitement. On one hand, this could be extremely dangerous. On the other… No. It is too early.

As the day progresses, I find myself taking a look at the anomaly every once in a while. Each time, it has grown larger. At first, it had been the size of a pin. Now, it was the size of a clenched fist. Hour by hour, its presence in this world was becoming more and more pronounced. The danger It posed increases with each passing moment. But so does the… No.

Should I begin preparations? No matter the outcome, I should see it for myself.

Yes. Better safe than sorry. Considering its growth rate, something might happen tomorrow already.

First, review of data. What is known of the anomaly? What is around the site of the incident? Who, if any, will be affected?

Second, secure transportation. Easily done.

Third, prepare equipment. Once more I leave my post and head into the corridor. This time, I must head for the warehouse.

I gather appropriate clothes. I do not want to be conspicuous. This amulet might come in handy, depending... The small amount of local currency we have had for emergencies. Greater and smaller things. These will aid me.

I am now satisfied with my equipment. It is time to retire for the night. I carry the equipment with me to my quarters.

Another day.

As I wake up, I yawn and stretch. It seems my timing was better last night, I do not feel nearly as bad this morning.

Who knows, this might be the last time I can do my morning routine.

A pity.

Once again, I head back to my station. I wonder what the status of the anomaly is?

I take my seat.

Apparently, I am in time. The anomaly is vaguely the size of a person now, but it is still stable. Based on recordings, its growth rate has reduced considerably in the last few hours. But this anomaly is not the entire world. I should resume my duties, until something happens.

I find myself focusing especially on the outworlders in the country of the anomaly’s origin this morning. It could not have chosen a worse place to appear in. Of all the major countries…

“Anomalous entry detected.”

I smile wryly at those words, spoken by the artificial intelligence with the same calm cadence it always used.

This is exactly the unprecedented scenario I have no instructions for that I had thought that it could be. This is no summoning. This is not an intrusion by invitation or happenstance. This is one by brute force. It uses no magic; it is purely technological in nature. There is no way of knowing whether it is intentional or not.

It cannot be left alone.

I am as prepared as I can be. The artificial intelligence can take control indefinitely. I just need to take my equipment. Yes, I must see the cause of this for myself. Whether it is what I fear or hope it to be, remains to be seen.

I must leave.

“There are six outworlders present at this time.”

Things never change, until they do.

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